10 Interesting Facts About Joe Diffie

We're only one day away from the big Classic Country Saturday Night Party with Joe Diffie at The District on Johnston St in Lafayette.

I don't know about you, but I am some type of pumped for this party! Joe Diffie is one of the iconic voices in the history of country music.

Just think of some of his hits: "Ships That Don't Come In", "Home", "Pickup Man", "Prop Me Up Beside the Jukebox", "So Help Me Girl", "John Deere Green", "Is It Cold In Here"...ok, you get the idea.

We've had the pleasure of having Joe Diffie in concert a time or two around the area, but you may not know much about him. Here are 10 interesting facts about the Oklahoma native:

1. Joe started school in Velma, Oklahoma, moved to San Antonio, Texas when he was in the first grade, then Washington state for fourth and fifth grade, and over to Wisconsin for sixth grade through sophomore year of high school and finally back to Oklahoma for the rest of high school.
2. Joe's parents claim he could sing harmonies when he was three years old.
3. In high school, Joe played football, baseball, golf and ran track and was recognized as Best All-Around Male Athlete.
4. Some of his early jobs included working in the oil field, driving a truck that pumped cement out of oil wells, and working in a foundry.
5. Joe started out in a gospel group called Higher Purpose then a bluegrass band called Special Edition.
6. Once owned his own recording studio.
7. Hank Thompson, Holly Dunn, Tim McGraw, and Jo Dee Messina recorded songs written by Diffie.
8. Jo Dee Messina took her own version of Joe's "By Give a Damn's Busted" to the top of the charts.
9. Joe Diffie has had five #1 hits, twelve top 10 singles and ten other songs that have reached the top 40.
10. In 1993, Joe became a member of the Grand Ole Opry and in 2002 was inducted into the Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame.

Doors for the concert tomorrow night open at 8pm. Pre-show entertainment by Classic Country Saturday Night co-host Brother Craig as he'll be spinning your favorite Classic Country tunes and keep you on the dance floor. Then around 10:00pm or so it's the great Joe Diffie on stage.